Rogues of the Force
by DaiSei
Summary: Far from the influence of the Republic, all order in the renegade system of Akari has collapsed. Civil war tears its worlds to the breaking point. Amidst the chaos rise warlords bent on conquest. The Mu'lesh family fights for its very survival as enemies encroach the space around Akari II. It is up to a handful of retainers and their Little Lord to turn the tide however they can.
1. Chapter One

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…

STAR WARS

Rogues of the Force

The Akari System is in turmoil. With the fall of the central government, local lords rise in bids for power. Hundreds of small wars erupt across the Deep Space system's three worlds and many satellite bodies. Peaceful life is devoured in campaigns of terror and conquest. Death and destruction are at every turn.

The Mu'lesh, one of the wealthiest families in Akari II, has received alarming news. Rival powers from far away have taken some of their moons, and are threatening to attack the planet itself.

Fearing for their very survival, the Mu'lesh count sends his most loyal retainer—a young Force Meister named Ran Bodaway—to retrieve the Mu'lesh count's runaway son and heir in hopes of enlisting his aid for the coming struggle...

 **CHAPTER ONE**

 _Breathe in and out…in…and out._

Seated in the back of a smuggled shuttle, Ran Bodaway struggled to contain the mix of exhilaration and unease swirling in his chest.

As the starship swung into its last turn, the image of his destination—Saydeen temple—painted his mind in wild splendor. The rather large Force Meister tried to shake it off. _Focus, Ran_. A monk of his rank—a retainer of the Mu'lesh count, no less—knew better than to be giddy over some exotic fort.

He could hardly help it. Saydeen would be his first visit to another sect! What would the resident Meisters teach him? How would they receive his coming? How would they be different, or the same?

He looked to the open cockpit entrance. Evidently, his excitement was so great that the copilot, a middle-aged woman, had been fixed upon him for some time. Smiling from under his head cowl, Ran waved a hand. "We are close, aren't we?"

Realizing herself, the copilot jetted back towards the windshield.

Ran leaned forward. "Don't tell me this is your first time smuggling nobles."

"It's our first suicidal one for sure," added the pilot, whom Ran swore was her husband. "Isn't that right, Kera?"

"Quiet, San! You'll make him mad." The woman must not have known that, even with his augmented hearing, she was whispering too loud.

"Relax. I'm just trying to make a conversation with our guest. Before he…you know…"

"He's going to hear you."

"He's going to hear _you_."

Ran raised an eyebrow as the couple only went on. He shrugged. For their lack of etiquette, they were the most pleasant individuals to meet on this mission. He looked away, keeping to himself a hearty laugh.

The shuttle began to gain altitude as it closed with the long summit of the mountain range. Ran felt his heart _pound_. He looked through the windshield. The mountain plummeted endlessly, until, at last, it disappeared beneath them. The banter died.

Mount Taljoon was massive. _Massive_.

The tallest cliff in the Akari System danced in an eternal blizzard, yet the garden of gleaming emerald spilling from its foot seemed untouched by snow. Half of the main pyramid-hall protruded from the face of Mount Taljoon. Massive statues on either flank paid memory to the temple's patron Meisters—the founders of their sect in their ancient glory.

For a moment, Ran thought of the immense integrity it would mean to meet the son and heir of his lord count in such a nexus of wisdom. He thought of how all his training and toil had culminated to this moment, and the many moments that would follow. He thought of how he would bring honor to his family by bringing back a wayward prince. For a moment, he felt only a soaring peace.

Yet from the back of his head came a crawling sensation. A feeling of poison permeating his very mind. His hyper-sensitive attunement to his surroundings came into full effect.

"Captain, look out!" he cried the impact alarm burst to life.

The cockpit ruptured into superheated gas.

Blizzard, smoke and debris assaulted the inside of the shuttle. Ran used his stout arms to block the onslaught, but could not stem it for long. Following his instinct, he reached within, and through the energies with which he had become so in tune over decades of learning, felt the touch of every object and motion connected to the starship.

Letting go of his fear, he _pushed_.

The motion lobbed kilograms of flying debris back into the angry storm outside. Having cleared his space, Ran's hand found the emergency respirator, and then the safety buckle. With neither thought nor emotion, he let his body be guided to his staff and the emergency chute. Strapping himself in, he found the sealed door. He felt the wind raging on the other side as the shuttle plummeted into an ever more violent doom.

One chance to make it.

He pressed on the door hard, focused on its electronic locks. With a thought, he tore the plasteel plank from its hinges. He breathed, and sent his fist rocketing. The door leapt free and vanished into the shuttle's wake. Ran followed just behind.

Intuition instructed the position of his body; all fours spread parallel to the surface of the world. He freed his chute, watching the shuttle blaze on until it smashed onto the mountain range's many writhing slopes.

Now all Ran could hear were the distance burning of his ship and the flap of his chute against the air. But also the silent boil of air...

Two bright needles whizzed past him, stopping with a sputter just over his head. Oh, no. His lift came undone, and once again, Ran was falling from the sky. His eyes raced around every corner within his vision, spotting for a soft landing. There, to his left—a deep mound of snow.

He concentrated, first with his breath, then with the aim of his hands. Again, he _pushed_. His body changed trajectory, away from the certain death of the mountain's bedrock. Blocking with his arms, he braced.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

Of all the things he desired, the Temple Pilgrimage had kept Ran awake in the late hours the most. The Temple in Genecor was his home, but only a small part of his heritage. Centuries ago, wayward peoples from the inner galaxy colonized the Akari System, led by undocumented numbers of individuals _strong_ with the Force. The ten-year pilgrimage—training from temple to temple—was drawn to commemorate their shared tradition. Dearly did he long for the bruising and healing that was the wisdom of the Unifying Force. Someday—Ran knew—he was going to make the journey.

 _And all he had to do was get shot._

Curled under the snows of Mount Saydeen, Ran's body _screamed_. So shattering was his agony that it spent years of his life just to keep to, knowing his attackers were too close to count the minutes.

Ran reached within, and the flaming tongue that was his pain slowly formed into a concentrated ball of anger. Drawing from its power, Ran lifted his body. Pound by pound, snow gave way to his indomitable figure. He emerged, feeling the sharp kiss of the blizzard. Victories in the light can come in very small moments.

He stopped.

Saydeen was _riddled_ with fallen starships.

Those husks were moving, staring at him with laser pointers.

His body rolled to the right as a blast bolt singed the snow beneath him. He righted himself and _sprinted_ , pains be damned. In his wake, pelts sputtered and flicked. All over him, the ground began to light up.

Ran made it to a larger piece of starship. He looked down.

He now stared the truth in the face. On Saydeen, there was no prince, no salvation for his clan. Only a failure of a Meister who had walked straight into an ambush of lucky bandits and desecrators.

He heard footsteps knock on top of his cover.

A blaster cocked right above his head.

Ran's mind went blank—his spirit took complete control. He could no longer feel his own body, but felt the mountain, its cracks and falls, its blizzard and snows, its fury and dominance over himself and the tiny armed figures so bold as to assault him head on. He _was_ the mountain. And if he was to go home empty, he would having slain bandits and desecrators. And perhaps his prince may not be lost just yet.

He gave the wall of starship a hard elbow tap. The structure moved a clean meter away in a fraction of a second. Before him fell a clearly surprised bandit. The shadow of a fully-trained monk over him, the bandit could not hold Ran's gaze.

In another second, a screaming bandit was on the air and landing on his face amongst his comrades, with large pieces of wreckage following swiftly.

Ran was no himself atop the structure, launching freshly torn chucks from the ship and onto the field.

"I am Ran Bodaway of the Temple of Genecor! I am Meister to the Mu'lesh family and member of the Lord Count's Guard!" He descended from the crumbling hulk. "Among you is a man of the Mu'lesh. I have come to bring him home."

As he marched, he felt a presence that was as his own blood. He extended his hand. A second later, a staff landed on it. "You will give him to me."

Ran sped up. Now he was catching blaster fire with his staff. He made for the closest target: a female firing from behind a severed exhaust pipe.

Gathering that her shots served her no more, she dropped her blaster and drew her vibroblade.

Ran's staff _smashed_ against it. The weapon's energy field writhed and failed. Ran sent a fist onto her belly. She fell motionless to the ground. From behind him, Ran affirmed with stoic confidence that his intuition had brought him to a position in his favor. Blaster fire rained fiery abuse on his position, but Ran was in no danger. He looked to his left. The debris had created for him a makeshift trench.

The team of assailants surged forward, their weapons ever firing in anger. At the same position their comrade had fallen. They found nothing.

One of the let out a cry of fear and desperation. They others turned to see him in midair before he vanished into the distance by some unseen weight. And then another bandit. And another, until only one remained. He ran; he had lost all hope.

He looked back at the field. He saw _nothing_.

 _SMACK!_

He hit the ton of wall that was Ran Bodaway. Ran caught his collar as he fell.

"I will spare you to tell me where he is. _Speak_."

Nothing.

Ran understood that this one that needed convincing. He raised his fist. The bandit winced.

A blaster cocked from behind.

Ran's instinct was to retaliate with a push of his mind, but something in his gut told him it would not happen.

"You seek a Mu'lesh prince," said the voice from behind. "You've found him."


End file.
